Financial encyclopedia

What is RWA? 

RWA (Real World Assets, tokenization of physical assets) refers to the transformation of real-world assets into blockchain digital tokens. The scope includes: 

Precious metals (gold, oil) 

Financial assets (U.S. Treasury bonds, corporate bonds) 

Tangible assets (real estate, artworks) 

Intangible assets (patents, income rights) 

In theory, every token is backed by a physical asset. 

Why is 2025 called the "Year of RWA"? 

The breakthrough of US Treasuries on the blockchain: Citigroup, BlackRock and other institutions have tokenized US Treasury funds, with a scale exceeding 100 billion US dollars. 

Traditional financial institutions enter the market: Banks and asset management companies join in, and RWA moves from experimentation to mainstream. 

The integration of DeFi and TradFi: Decentralized platforms are beginning to use tokenized assets as collateral, combining on-chain and traditional finance. 

The Advantages and Disadvantages of RWA 

Advantages: Improved liquidity, operation all year round, and reduced threshold. 

Risks: Insufficient transparency in custody, regulatory gray areas, vulnerabilities in smart contracts and hacker risks. 

The Disputes between China and Hong Kong 

The world is promoting RWA, but China is more cautious. It is reported that Chinese regulators have informally asked some domestic securities firms to postpone their business expansion in Hong Kong. The reasons include: 

Risk control: Ensure there are real assets behind it. 

Financial sovereignty: Preventing capital from flowing out of the country. 

Market stability: Maintain a cautious attitude towards crypto assets. 

Hong Kong, on the other hand, hopes to establish a digital financial advantage through RWA, creating a situation where "the mainland is applying the brakes while Hong Kong wants to accelerate". 

Focus areas in the investment field 

U.S. Treasury bonds: stable returns, the market's "touchstone". 

Gold: It was the earliest to be traded and has high liquidity. 

Real estate: Great potential, but even greater challenges. 

Long-term impact 

Monetary system: Could become a new tool for "de-dollarization". 

Financial democratization: Individual investors can participate in more institutional assets. 

Market order reshaping: Traditional assets going on-chain may rewrite the roles of banks and exchanges. 

RWA symbolizes the integration of finance and blockchain, but regulation will determine the process - the US and Europe are actively promoting it, China is observing, and Hong Kong is attempting to break through. 2025 is regarded as the "RWA Year", presenting both opportunities and a game of wits between systems and regulations.